It’s a familiar story: Soldiers blame the “fog of war” for civilian deaths. Sometimes it only takes one soldier with a conscience to reveal the truth, but it requires a government’s commitment to see justice done.

That commitment seems sorely lacking in the United Kingdom, whose military has been dogged by allegations of killing of citizens in Afghanistan. Australia – whose military has also been tarnished by horrific allegations in Afghanistan – should take note of the UK’s missteps as it tries to get to the truth.

Despite that, the inquiry into these allegations is being largely shut down.

The Royal Military Police (RMP) investigation, Operation Northmoor, reportedly started in early 2016 and was meant to continue through 2021, but was ordered closed down in February 2017, according to a recent report in the Sunday Times. The government wanted to avoid having “any of the detail getting into the press,” a military police source explained to the paper. The Ministry of Defence later claimed the decision had been taken by the military police.

The shutdown comes despite credible evidence against the SAS unit, senior military police and defense sources told the Sunday Times, which also disclosed that Northmoor had uncovered doctored reports blaming Afghan special forces partners for the killings.

This is not the first time UK authorities have shown themselves unwilling to investigate and prosecute military figures for war crimes. Let’s hope Australia does better by transparently investigating all allegations of abuses, and releasing such reports to the public.

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